Cracks emerge in Lawrence Bishnoi syndicate amid infighting and betrayals
CHANDIGARH: Internal rivalries and alleged betrayals have led to cracks within the criminal syndicate headed by notorious gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.
The latest rift surfaced following the September 12 shooting outside Bollywood actress Disha Patani’s house in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. The attack has brought the growing tensions between the Godara-Brar faction and the Bishnoi group into sharp focus.
The firing, which occurred early in the morning, was quickly claimed by gangsters Rohit Godara and Goldy Brar on social media. They justified the attack as retaliation for allegedly insulting remarks made by Patani’s sister towards two spiritual leaders.
Sources say the responsibility claim was posted on a joint social media page belonging to Rohit Godara and Goldy Brar, which also included cryptic warnings aimed at "traitors" within the gang. Similar statements were shared by gangster Harry Boxer (real name Hari Chand Jaat)—a key operative of the Godara network from Narayanpur, Rajasthan, who is believed to be operating from the United States.
Previously affiliated with Lawrence Bishnoi, both Godara and Brar publicly distanced themselves from him, urging that their current actions not be associated with Bishnoi’s leadership.
Just days later, on September 17, Uttar Pradesh Police conducted an encounter near Tronica City in Ghaziabad, killing two shooters from Haryana—Ravinder of Rohtak and Arun of Sonepat—linked to the Bareilly attack.
Following this, without naming anyone directly, the breakaway faction accused an unnamed "traitor" of colluding with law enforcement agencies to secure the release of Anmol Bishnoi, Lawrence Bishnoi’s younger brother, and of betraying gang interests.
A senior police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that intelligence inputs indicate rising tensions between gang factions.
“The situation is dynamic, and more developments are expected soon,” he said, hinting at potential gang war-related killings.
Adding to the unrest, Harry Boxer recently claimed responsibility for a shooting at Kapil Sharma’s café, Kap’s Café, in Surrey, Canada. In an audio message posted online, Boxer alleged the attack was prompted by Salman Khan being invited to the café’s inauguration, which was featured on a Netflix show. Another gang, led by Gurpreet Singh alias Goldy Dhillon, also claimed responsibility for the same attack, suggesting multiple rival factions are involved.
Further deepening the divide, Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, a former mentor of Bishnoi and now jailed in Assam on drug smuggling charges filed by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), had severed ties with Bishnoi after the Sidhu Moosewala murder. Bhagwanpuria blamed Bishnoi's gang for leaking information that led to police encounters involving his shooters.
The rift widened after Bhagwanpuria’s mother was killed on June 26 this year in an attack allegedly carried out by a rival gang.
Sources claim the syndicate began to unravel last year after Anmol Bishnoi was detained in the U.S. for entering the country using forged documents. Lawrence Bishnoi reportedly accused Rohit Godara and Goldy Brar of abandoning Anmol during his legal troubles and leaking information to foreign intelligence agencies.
Bishnoi’s syndicate once operated like a corporate enterprise, forging alliances with groups such as the Boxer-Gogi gang, Kala Jatheri in Delhi-NCR, Jaggu Bhagwanpuria in Punjab, and Rohit Godara in Rajasthan. At its peak, the network included over 700 operatives across multiple states, with reported international links to Pakistan-based Khalistani terrorist Harwinder Singh Sandhu alias Rinda, and Canada-based gangster Lakhwinder Singh alias Landa.